The ten hour drive from Belgium to Geneva was less than thrilling to say the least. My first experience of Switzerland was a crazy heat wave, and a really heavy customs check at the border (we had to obviously drive through France). They asked a million questions, and just about turned the car inside out for what seemed like hours.

There were private banks and expensive Swiss watch shops on just about every street. And of course designer stores (I'm beginning to think that's all Europeans do - shop).The standard of living of the people seemed pretty high, and it was by far the most expensive country I'd been to. For example, you would pay nearly R200 for a glass of house wine, and a sparkling water, or nearly R100 for a burger at a burger stand. Thank goodness I was only staying for one night, of which the best part I spent having the best apricot sorbet next to Lake Geneva.

The main reason for my visit was a study visit to the United Nations, which I went to the next morning. 17 000 people work at the UN in Geneva, and that alone was a fascinating fact. You can imagine the size of the building that would need to house that many employees. I learnt that every 30 minutes, one person is injured by a land mine. There was a huge chair in the middle of the city with the leg blown off symbolises that. Before the tour, I walked past it thinking it was just a chair, random art. It meant so much more on the way out.

The one thing that seemed a bit odd was the number of gypsies loitering about, begging. I'm guessing not all of them are bad, but I was told to look out for them because a lot of them are thieves. Don't get a false sense of security just because you hear that "Europe is safe".

5 hours later, and I've made it to Paris!
In the worst traffic I've seen in my life. The city was busy, dirty, and buzzing. Roller blades are obviously a mode of transport for a lot of people too. Looked pretty arb though.
There were tourists EVERYWHERE!!! I guess because it's summer.
Paris is a mad mad city to drive in, so buy a train ticket which you can use as often as you want, to get around the city. There's still quite a bit of walking involved though, so pack a decent pair of shoes. The trains are also REALLY tricky, so keep a good map handy, and know where you're going. Getting lost in the city could be hell.
Watch out for the gypsies again! They tend to target foreigners, and for some reason we tend to stand out.

I had to learn a few French phrases. Fast. Waiters and shopkeepers aren't really that accommodating if you don't at least greet them in their language.
The Moulin Rouge was pretty average- I naively expected something out of the movie. There was a queue of people around the bend (seriously, they wait for hours to get in), so I didn't get to go in. It was cool to see though. I suppose I can't go to Paris and not see the Eifel Tower, hey? It was pretty overwhelming - huge! It was swarming with tourists too though, but you can get really close, which is special.

Tip: Instead of paying, and waiting all day in the impossible crowds, and queue only to walk up a killer amount of stairs for the "View" that everyone's so obsessed with, grab a take-out lunch, and sit on the grass right next to it. It really was the perfect view.

There were quite a lot of other "must sees", like the Louvre (that's the museum where the Mona Lisa is), and the Champs-Élysées Avenue (famous streets with all the high end fashion boutiques) were great, and the Notre Dame Cathedral. It's nice that a lot of the big attractions are free, you just pay extra to either go inside. It wasn't really that necessary for me - I was just stoked about being in Paris and getting to see everything.

On my drive back to Belgium, I saw the Waterloo Monument (the battle of waterloo!). I'm not so big into history, but the stories behind pieces of art, and buildings, and monuments always make for interesting reading.

And that was pretty much it!
Oh and...
Fanta Orange in Europe is sooo good!

This is my last weekend, and then I'm back in SA. (I really hope the winter isn't too cold - I've kind of gotten used to the heat here).

It's been the trip of a lifetime, but there really is no place like home!
Until I travel again...

Jen
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